


Under the Surface

by gwenwifar



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Ending, M/M, fanfic of a fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:35:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28724460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenwifar/pseuds/gwenwifar
Summary: Once upon a time, not too long ago, I read a fic while I was at work. I had to stop near the end of a chapter, at a rather critical point, and while I finished my workday, my mind cast about for what would happen next. It came up with all sorts of ideas, some better than others, but finally landed on this. I'm not going to retell the story that originated this. It's called Drops in the Ocean and you can find ithere. If you haven't read it already, you should, or this won't make much sense. This story diverges from the original path near the end of Chapter 14, when Cas finds the ACDC tee and cries.I'm not attempting to replicate the original author's style or present a complete story here. Just sharing the idea that I hit on. For the full story, please read Drops in the Ocean.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. Ripples at the Roadhouse

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Drops in the Ocean](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27503893) by [Glitterinchaos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitterinchaos/pseuds/Glitterinchaos). 



Eventually, Castiel got up, taking the t-shirt with him, and went searching for a bottle. Of course Dean would do something like that. Of course he would. 

A good host always had some booze around, his mother had always assured him. A small but excellent selection of the hard stuff, at the very least. So he picked out the fullest bottle and made his way back to bed. 

A few swigs later, the tears were welling up again. He missed Dean. He missed Charlie. He missed _Cas_. He missed going to the Roadhouse and talking to Benny about his restaurant. Looking forward to going to work and looking forward even more to going home to Dean at the end of his shift. Another hard pull on the bottle and he was reaching for the phone he’d stashed away and turning it on.

When all the messages started coming in, his heart broke all over again. He waited for the phone to stop buzzing, the flash of the notifications before his eyes adding guilt to all that was already weighing him down. Charlie had clearly sent about a million texts, and before he got the chance to wonder why Dean hadn’t, he saw that there were dozens of voicemails. Resigning himself to having a killer hangover tomorrow (it was Saturday, he’d have time to sleep it off), he selected play all, and lifted the bottle to his lips again.

He wanted to call Dean. With every swig he took he wanted to call Dean that much harder. Just to cry and beg for forgiveness, mostly. He didn’t deserve it, but Dean didn’t deserve this silence and he could think of nothing else he could say. But the only thing worse than putting Dean through all this would be putting him through all this and then getting him arrested anyway. No contact was part of the deal. He couldn’t risk it. And so he took another swig and cried harder and tortured himself listening to Dean’s increasingly confused and hurt messages.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the world’s worst hangover had indeed arrived. He wanted to stay still there forever, but he had to move, because the next thing he noticed was that his pillow was wet and his phone was lying next to him. Dead, apparently. Moving very slowly, he plugged it into the charger and made his way into the bathroom. One glass of water and a couple of aspirin later, he shuffled into the kitchen to get some coffee started. It was when the smell of the brewing coffee hit him that a realization started to dawn. At some point, somewhere between listening to Dean’s messages and finishing off that bottle, he’d made a phone call. He’d drunk dialed someone. _Please let it be Charlie._

As soon as the coffee was ready, he dragged himself back to his phone as fast as he could go and turned it on again. There was just enough charge to show him that he had indeed called Charlie. They had apparently talked for over two hours. Probably until the phone went dead. He’d woken her up at 2 am. Ish. He wished he could remember. He could have used the comfort of her friendship right now. He turned to the coffee for comfort instead, and between the warmth of the coffee, the aspirin and the relief that he had not broken the terms of his agreement with his family, he slumped down on the bed, and drifted off into sleep again.

oOo

How early could you reasonably call people on a Saturday morning? Normally, Charlie wouldn’t call them on a Saturday morning at all. She’d wait until after lunch, like a civilized person. But this was an emergency. It was about 5 now, still too early. It was an emergency, but the kind that could wait until 8, probably. She’d have to ask everyone when they talked. She got another cup of coffee and reviewed the notes on her notepad. She couldn’t find all the information she needed in public records. Fortunately, Cas had been drunk enough she wouldn’t have to hack into anything the hard way. She hated using his log-in without his (sober) permission, but he’d understand, right? Even if he was pissed, initially, once he was back home, she’d work on it and he’d forgive her. 

She hid her trail anyway, because what kind of a hacker would she be if she didn’t? She probably didn’t need to worry about it, she decided, a couple of hours later, when she finished printing the evidence they needed. After all, if they tried to prosecute her, all this would have to come to light and well, that just wouldn’t go well for Novak Aviation.

She made breakfast. Took a shower. Finally gave in 13 minutes before 8. She called Ellen. Ellen called Dean, Bobby and Benny. Bobby called Jody. Dean called Sam and then Donna. Saturday breakfast at the Roadhouse was at 9.

oOo

Ellen had skipped the biscuits and gravy. She could make a lot of pancakes in a very short time, and she was going to be needed at the table, away from the kitchen. She didn’t know what this was about yet, but Charlie had said it was about Cas and Dean, and that meant it would get Ellen’s full attention. Something about the way Cas left had reeked to high heaven, and her boy was a pitiful sight these days. 

She heard Bobby call out as he let himself in.

“Does your wife know you break into bars on the weekends?” she called back, stacking pancakes on a platter and grabbing the syrup.

“I’ll read him his rights right after coffee,” Jody quipped, before sitting herself at the table where Ellen had left the large coffee pot.

By the time Ellen had joined them with the pancakes, Benny was letting himself in the back door, with Charlie and Donna on his heels. Dean’s knock came as the syrup was getting passed around the table a minute later.

As soon as everyone was there, the silence became thicker than the syrup, which was all the encouragement Charlie needed to abandon her pancakes in favor of telling them what she’d learned. 

“Cas called me last night. Well, this morning, I guess,” she started. She felt Dean close up and added. “It was a drunk dial. He’s…” 

She hesitated, took a deep breath, and pulled out her notes. They’d been feeling their feelings for weeks now, dammit. Right now they needed to focus on doing something about it.

“He told me everything. You’re not going to like it, and he might never forgive me for telling you, but you need to know.”

They closed ranks around Dean, their glances clear enough even though nobody moved.

“They’re blackmailing him,” she blurted out. And now that she’d made it this far the hesitation was gone.

“His family is blackmailing him. If he didn’t go back and completely break contact with Dean, they were going to press charges and get you arrested,” somehow in mid-sentence her focus had shifted entirely to Dean. She was talking to him now, the rest of them just third parties that had an interest in this only indirectly. “They told him you still have 2 years left on your probation. He’s devastated. He doesn’t want to be there, but he won’t leave until the 2 years are up, he won’t risk making contact, and he just knows that when you’re home free in 2 years you’ll be over him and he’ll have lost you forever.”

“But-” Dean started to say. But there were so many different ways to finish that sentence he couldn’t make up his mind.

“I know. They lied. They took his phone and reset it, they’re screening his calls, and monitoring all his communications. The only way he was able to talk to me at all was that they didn’t know about the phone you gave him.”

She referred to her notes then, told them everything else Cas had told her. By the time she was done, everyone had abandoned their pancakes. For a moment, nobody seemed to know what to say. Then Benny shoved aside his plate, and bluntly pulled them all out of their funk.

“So how are we doing this? What else have you got?”

He pointed at the papers she hadn’t touched yet.

“I’m glad you asked. Proof they’re robbing Cas. He said they’ve been taking part of his pay as reimbursement for student loans, but according to what I’ve found, even at predatory interest rates, he paid them off like 3 years ago. Also, I got into his computer remotely, and recovered copies of the documents they gave him, with the altered dates.”

“It’s a start,” Jody nods. 

Dean got up, then, stepped away from the table reached for his phone.

“Dean?” Ellen asked, and somehow managed to imbue that one word with a dozen questions. Where are you going? Are you okay? Do you want to do this? Should we drop it?

Without turning around, he answered all of them. 

“Gotta get Sammy on his way. Should he meet us here or get a flight to Seattle, do you think?” and a moment later “We thinking Monday?’

And as he told Sam what they’d learned, Ellen and Benny cleared the plates, more paper was brought up, Charlie pulled up Google Maps while Donna scared up some pens and they’d decided that if they were driving up, they really should make it Tuesday. Nobody suggests or even considers that maybe they should wait a few weeks, until Dean’s probation is over. He wouldn’t have stood for it anyway.


	2. Ready, Set

Donna stepped out of the elevator. The basket on her arm was getting heavy. This place was harder to get into than Fort Knox. Still, she’d made her way through the enormous building without too much trouble. That was about to change, now, she imagined. She might be able to get past security with a firm “Delivery for Mr. Novak,” but now that she was approaching the offices, she imagined she’d have to deal with personal assistants. That was going to be another ballgame entirely. Good thing she wasn't actually trying to get into his office.

She plastered her very best customer service smile on and stepped up to the desk.

“Delivery for Mr. Novak,” she chirped, for the millionth time today, it seemed like. Her small business would never, she resolved, ever, deliver. 

“Which one?” The assistant inquired.

“Cas,” catching herself, she added, pretending to struggle with the name “teal?” 

“Mr. _Castiel_ Novak is busy,” she corrected sourly. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”

“I’ll wait. It’s” she smirked “kinda personal, if you catch my drift. I’m not supposed to deliver it to anyone else.”

“Who’s it from?”

“I’m afraid that’s privileged information.”

“I see. Mr. Novak doesn’t personally receive any of his deliveries. That’s what he has me for.”

Donna smiled.

“Why don’t I just find myself a seat over there, and you can ask him when he’s available?”

She took some time finding just the right place to sit and placed the basket just right on her lap. Trying to look bored, she glanced around getting the lay of the land, noting where security cameras were, who went into what office and eavesdropping on whatever conversations she could. 

It was maybe 20 minutes after she arrived that Charlie burst in and sauntered up to the desk.

“I have a delivery for a Mr. Castial Novak?”

The assistant quirked an eyebrow. What were the odds?

“You’ll have to give it to me, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, sure, I guess.” She smiled bigger, flicked her hair and leaned in, looking over her shoulder as if to make sure they couldn’t be overheard.

“Make sure he gets it right away. Looks like he’s got big plans for tonight. Wouldn’t want them to spoil.”

She winked, quickly lifted the lid on her basket, which was filled with delicious looking baked snacks, around a large jar of raw honey. Tucked between all the snacks was a tiny plush bee, maybe about the size of an average peanut. She flicked the bee’s tiny antennae as if she just couldn’t help herself, it was so cute. 

The assistant visibly relaxed, glanced in Donna’s direction as if to ask why she couldn’t be this reasonable, and reached for the basket. Charlie cut her off, presenting her with a clipboard first, pointing to where she needed to sign for the delivery and chatting delightedly while the assistant did so. When she got the clipboard back, she checked that everything was ok before releasing her hold on the basket.

“My delivery instructions say to leave it the basket just like this on his desk. Also, can you make sure that it’s clear of any papers or unvarnished wood or any kind of leather or-”

“I’ve got it, really. On the desk, clear of everything.”

“I’m sorry I know it’s a lot, but food safety regulations when you deliver items that aren’t sealed are just...” and she dramatically rolled her eyes as she hadn’t done since the last time she’d been Queen of Moondoor. “O, and water. Make sure it’s clear of water, or anything really, that could make the pastries soggy.”

“Got it, she repeated.”

“Megan? I love that. Thank you, Megan, you’re very helpful.” she flirted.

Megan hesitated. 

“That was awkward, wasn’t it? I’m sorry. You know what they say about lesbians and flirting, right? Anyway, I’m sorry. Can I just ask for one more thing and then I’ll go.”

“What’s that?”

“Can you just go put it in the office? I have delivered too many of these things only to have customers call and complain that they got left on the assistant’s desk and then someone came along and ate one while they were away from their desk.”

Megan’s smile was on the strained side of professional by now, but she reluctantly got up and took the basket into one of the offices behind her. First door on the left, they noted.   
When Megan returned, Charlie waved and headed for the elevator. Donna continued to sit, to all appearances lost in a thrilling round of Candy Crush. It was about 3 hard levels later that Benny came out of the elevator, dressed in his Sunday best, and with a briefcase in his hand, demanding to see Castiel.

Donna waited patiently for it to start getting loud, and then walked up to the desk as if she couldn’t be made to wait any longer.

“As I said, he’s in a meeting,” Megan was calmly explaining.

“And I said, he promised he’d help me with my restaurant and I won’t be put off any longer.”

Feeling a bit sorry for Megan, Donna joined the fray.

“Listen, I can see that you’re busy, and I’m sure Mr. Casteel is also quite occupied, but I have other deliveries to make. I really just need a second.”

Benny, of course, couldn’t believe the gall of the small thing showing up and interrupting his pitch, and soon everybody was talking at once, Benny and Donna making demands while Megan just tried to calm everyone down. To her credit, nobody came out of any office, so it was probably true that they were all in some meeting. The other assistant (Michael’s?) came to Megan’s rescue, leaving the rest of the lobby unattended.

It was a bad day for Novak Aviation, really. As things were threatening to come to blows upstairs, at the main reception area on the first floor, Ellen was loudly demanding to speak to the CEO about a charter flight that had not gone according to plan. She didn’t stay long. Just long enough to get the attention of all the security cameras and all the security staff and demand her money back. 

Nobody heard the elevator ding when it stopped outside the executive offices again. Nobody heard much of anything for a full minute until Jody pushed her way into the group.

“Benny, what are you doing here?” she glared.

“Nevermind, sit down and don’t go anywhere. We’ll talk when I’m done here,” she finished sternly.

She watched Benny and Donna sit down again, Donna going back to her Candy Crush. Then she pulled out her badge and turned to Megan.

“I’m Sheriff Mills, and this is Deputy Singer. We need to have a word with Mr. Novak in connection with an assault that happened in our town a few weeks ago.”

Taking a deep breath and struggling to remain professional after the morning she’d had thus far, Megan asked, as politely as she could manage.

“Which one?”

Jody made much of looking at her notepad and continued.

“Mr. Castiel Novak. Actually, we’ll need to see Michael as well. Perhaps his brother could join us in Castiel’s office after a few minutes.”

“I’m afraid they’re both in a meeting right now.”

“He's already put me in a mood by leaving town and the state in the first place. You have a legal team, right? You know you're not supposed to leave the state when you're a person of interest in an investigation?" she looked ready to make a note of the answer. Megan just stood there, without saying a word.

"When do you expect this meeting to end?” Jody scribbled in her notepad, as if this was all critical information.

Megan looked at her calendar.

“He’s got another meeting in his office in about 10 minutes.”

“You should cancel that,” Jody cut in. “We’ll wait, then.”

They went to sit near Benny and Donna. 

“So Benny, do we need a private room for you to tell me why you’re here?” she asked, selling it to the audience.

“Yeah, yeah,” Benny grouched. “I get it.” But Donna could see his smile. Everyone was ready. It was showtime.


	3. Showtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it. Originally, I went a bit further with the story, stopping in Castiel's apartment before they headed back home for a little, considerably more private, reunion. However, this chapter is already much longer than it needed to be because I had way too much fun with this. I might add an epilogue with that last scene in the next day or two.

Cas walked into his office, oblivious to the people waiting outside. He walked within a few feet of them, just on the other side of a very large window. Close enough that they were worried he might see them and derail the plan. But he moved like his perfectly tailored suit weighed a ton, his eyes on a phone they’d never seen before. He walked past his assistant, despite her attempts to get his attention, and closed the office door behind him with a thump.

A snicker went through the group, all eyes on the door. When it didn’t immediately open again, they shared smiled all around, before turning to the door again. Which is why Jody saw that Megan was about to go up and knock, and set out to intercept her.

“Excuse me, ma’am…” she called from the desk. “Can I use your bathroom?”

Megan pointed, and sat down again. She’d wait until the sheriff was back to inform Castiel. No sense interrupting him multiple times. And as for the other two, “delivery lady” and “wannabe businessman” as she’d come to think of them, they could wait, especially after that scene they made.

oOo

The moment the door closed, Cas slumped against it, as it trying to barricade himself inside. He was exhausted, drained in every way. More so than when he’d walked off with a backpack and no direction months ago. At least then he was heartbroken but not powerless. He made decisions about where he wanted to go and he went. Now…. Well, there was no sense dwelling on what he couldn’t change. He squared his shoulders, moved away from the door and finally lifted his eyes. 

Not a heartbeat later, he was leaning against the door again, this time intending to keep everyone out until he could figure out just how (and why) exactly Dean was sitting in his chair. Did they know he was here? Cas didn’t know how he could have made it this far undetected, but if they knew he was here they would have kept him away, surely? Unless they were calling the police to have Dean arrested right there, in his office? He had to get Dean out of here. He had to hold Dean and never let him go. 

Torn between the need to run to Dean, and the fear driving him to run to his mother and somehow stop her from retaliating, his legs resolved the conflict by simply refusing to move. 

“Before anything else happens, there are two things you need to know,” Dean announced. “The first thing is that there is a bug in your office. Charlie and Ellen are listening in and they’re going to record everything that is about to go down in here. We’re going to try to make it good.”

Castiel made himself stop panicking. There was some kind of plan afoot, clearly. A plan that involved him, somehow. He couldn’t mess it up. He couldn’t look away, his eyes drinking in Dean as if he couldn’t get enough.

“The second thing you need to know is that I’m a grown ass man,” Dean stood up, then, moved closer. “I made a choice and if there are consequences I’ll face them like a grown ass man. I don’t need you or anyone taking the bullet for me. And whenever there is a decision to be made that affects both of us, I expect my boyfriend to be completely honest with me and include me in the decision.”

Cas looked at his shoes for a moment, Dean’s message hitting home, loud and clear. Had he messed up? He was so sure that this was the right thing to do that even now he couldn’t see how he could have done anything else, even if he understood Dean’s point. How could he not take the bullet for Dean? How could he just stand by and watch Dean get hurt?

Dean’s hand lifted his chin up, gently stroking his jaw. 

“You’re not off the hook yet, but we’ll talk about it later. Right now I have a very important question for you, and I need you to answer me honestly. No matter what your answer is, you should know that I’m not leaving here without talking to Michael and Naomi. They can’t use me to hold you here against your will. I won’t stand for it. This deal you made is broken.”

“But -”

“I’m not going to jail, Cas. Trust me.”

He took a step back then.

“What I need to know is, do you want to come home?”

It dawned on Cas then that they were here to bring him home. Dean, and apparently Charlie and Ellen, had come to bring him home. That was the plan. He thought to himself that Dean always found a way to bring him home. His legs seemed to agree with his assessment because they allowed him to move again, and he found that he was advancing on Dean.

“More than I want my next breath,” he finally answered.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Dean slid his arms around Cas for a moment, then made himself let go. “We don’t have much time. Any second now -”

Right on cue there was a knock on the door, and Dean nodded to Cas, heading for the private bathroom attached to his office. Cas called out to his assistant to come in, and by the time she had approached his desk, Dean (and Sam!) were settling into the chairs opposite his desk.

Megan droned on about “delivery lady” and “wannabe businessman” but a discreet signal from Dean had Cas waving his hand dismissively and telling her to make them wait. Megan seemed entirely too pleased by that outcome. She then informed him that a Sheriff Mills was here to see him in connection with an assault.

Because that was normal procedure, Cas told her to get Legal on the phone, and get him a few minutes to discuss the situation with them before bringing in the sheriff. Megan left; Sam and Dean exchanged a smirk.

“10 bucks says she’s calling Naomi right now,” Sam pipped up.

“Think she’ll come or send Michael?” Dean returned.

“Michael is closer,” Cas added. “She might send Michael, if it doesn’t interfere with some important business, but she won’t be far behind.”

The brothers shared another significant look, and for Charlie’s benefit, Dean tossed a “showtime” into the room.

Michael burst through the door.

“What is he doing here?” he blustered.

“Hello, Michael. Do come in,” Dean cut in. “Don’t worry, you’re not interrupting anything. Just waiting on a call from Legal.”

Michael stood up taller and turned to face Dean squarely. 

“Why are you here?”

“I’m being rude, aren’t I? I don’t believe you’ve met my brother yet. Michael, Sam. Sammy, Michael. Michael is Castiel’s brother.”

Sam gave a derisive snort, and stood up to his full height, looking down on Michael.

“You need to leave,” he growled.

Still chattering pleasantly as if they were mingling at some business function, Dean continued.

“Sammy is going to going to be a bigshot lawyer in a few years, did you know? I’m not sure if you dug into his background or just mine. Free ride to Stanford. We’re very proud.” 

Sam offered Michael his hand politely, leaning in as Michael shook it to add significantly, as he squeezed perhaps a little harder than strictly necessary.

“I’m not on probation.”

Cas and Dean snickered at that, making Michael bristle.

“Speaking of…” Dean turned to Cas. “My probation is over a little over a week. The next hearing is my last.”

He felt the amusement that had been building in Cas since Michael came in fade fast, replaced with anger.

“Don’t celebrate too soon,” Michael reminded them. “I can change that with one phone call.”

Cas tensed even more, looking to Dean and Sam for direction, but to his surprise they seemed to mostly be amused by the suggestion. Since they didn’t seem to be inclined to do anything about it, Cas found himself appealing to his brother.

“Michael, you can’t-”

“O, but I can brother. The deal was no contact.”

“Ah, yes, the deal. Let’s talk about that, why don’t we? Would this be the deal wherein you threatened to have his boyfriend arrested and ruin his life if Cas didn’t come back to Seattle and ruin his own? That deal?”

“Yes, that deal.” He snarled. “This is contact. The deal is broken.”

“It is that,” Dean agreed. “But I wouldn’t be making any phone calls yet, if I were you.”

Michael reached for the phone on Castiel’s desk, his face a mask of defiance. He found Castiel’s hand in his way. With a smirk, he turned to open the door and leave the office. The smirk fell right off his face when Jody and Bobby walked in, instead of Michael walking out.

“Michael Novak? I’m Sheriff Jody Mills, and this is Deputy Singer. We’d like to have a word with you in connection to an incident that happened in our jurisdiction a few weeks ago.”

Michael almost glowed with triumph, sure that he wouldn’t even have to bother to make that phone call after all.

“You are a suspect in the kidnapping of Castiel Novak. I’d ask you to accompany me to the station but that’s kind of a drive. Before I call your local authorities, I’d like to ask you a few questions for my report.”

Cas sat back in his chair, his demeanor relaxing again.

“Kidnapping??” He objected. “Castiel came home to his job and his apartment on his own two feet. Nobody snatched him off the street and dragged him here.”

“Castiel, did you come back to Seattle because you wanted to?” Jody asked over Michael’s shoulder.

“No.” Cas replied, simple and final.

“Why did you come back, then?” she asked.

“I was coerced. Threatened.”

“Are you free to go wherever you want and talk to anyone you choose to?”

“No. My phone was tampered with, and all my communications are monitored. I am not allowed to leave for the next two years.”

“I’d say that sounds like unlawful confinement of someone against their will, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes,” agreed Sam. “Plus you brought him across state lines. That never improves a criminal case.”

Cas found himself beginning to enjoy this, on an entirely petty level.

“Where is Legal when you need them? Are we sure Megan called them?” Dean chimed in.

“That is absurd! He was in town at least 24 hours after I left.”

“Well,” Jody pleasantly added, scribbling on her notepad. “Guess we’ll let the jury decide.” 

She then turned to Castiel. 

“I have a bone to pick with you, sir. When a crime is committed in my jurisdiction, I expect to be told about it. Immediately. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I should bring you in for questioning,” she grouched. “Actually, I don’t really have room in the cruiser. Dean should bring you in, and I’ll drill you when we get there.”

Cas was about to agree enthusiastically when the door opened again to admit his mother.

“Castiel, what is that criminal doing here? I thought we had an agreement.”

“Mrs. Novak, I presume?” Jody flipped to a new page on her notepad. “I’m Sheriff Mills, this is Deputy Singer. I would like a word with you about your son’s kidnapping.”

“My what?” she shrieked. “My son was not kidnapped, he got on an airplane and flew here on his own.”

“You ever notice how people don’t really know what a kidnapping is?” she said, in an aside, to Bobby. “Maybe we should do an infomercial or something.”

Bobby snickered but otherwise said nothing.

“Mr. Castiel Novak, earlier you said you were coerced into returning. Coerced by what means?”

“My mother showed me some court documents showing that Dean was on probation for another two years and threatening to have him arrested if I didn’t come back.”

“Mrs. Novak, are you aware that tampering with official court documents is in itself a crime, even if you don’t use them to commit another crime after?”

“Tampering? There was no tampering -”

“The probation is over in a couple of weeks. Your documents had a different date on them. You altered the documents, or someone did, on your behalf. That’s tampering.” 

While Naomi sputtered, and Dean wondered if he should remind Naomi to call Legal (again), Jody instead changed tacks.

“While we’re clarifying criminal lingo, Mrs. Novak, are you aware that taking someone’s money under false pretenses is also a crime?”

“Are you accusing me of robbery?”

“Larceny, actually. We have evidence that you have been taking a very large chunk of your son’s paycheck since he graduated and started working here. By all accounts, given what we’ve uncovered, Castiel paid back his loans in full about 3 years ago. Everything you’ve taken after that would be unlawfully taken.”

Dean took a break from enjoying the spectacle to glance at Cas. This was new. He was probably pissed. It was telling that Cas didn’t even seem surprised.

“I’d imagine that that was more about keeping me feeling suitably obligated to stay in a job I didn’t like than the money. Still, I probably should have determined from the beginning exactly how much she was owed.”

“Most people are justified in trusting their family with things like that,” Jody responded. “It is understandable that you wanted to trust yours. Still,” she flipped back and forth between pages “kidnapping, forgery, fraud, larceny, blackmail. I wouldn’t trust yours to tell me the time of day.”

Cas nodded and hummed his agreement. 

Naomi sputtered in outrage, and turned towards the door, no doubt to make what would have been a dramatic exit, except that Donna and Benny were standing there, shoulders against the sides of the door.

“Delivery for Mr. Novak,” Donna chirped.

Castiel’s eyes blew wide and he scrambled to his feet.

“Please tell me that’s taffy.”

“All your favorites,” she agreed.

“I have one more question for you, before you lose you to the taffy,” Jody cut in. "Do you want to press charges?”

Cas sat back in his chair, a satisfied smile on his face now.

“Well now, Jody, that’s an excellent question.” He made a how of thinking about it.

“My boyfriend and I have been separated for some time, and I find I can’t decide while I’m so… preoccupied. Perhaps after Dean and I head back home and spend the next month or so getting reacquainted I will be in a better place to answer that question. Of course, if our time was to be interrupted in any way, I might have to press charges immediately.” 

Michael, not knowing when to take his losses, cut in.

“So press charges. You can’t prove anything.”

“Actually,” Dean chimed in, “We might not be able to prove kidnapping and blackmail, but forgery and larceny we certainly can prove. You should meet Charlie. She’s a librarian. Bit of advice, don’t mess with with a small town librarian. They have access to basically all the world’s knowledge and Charlie could break into Fort Knox on her lunch break. Unfortunately she’s all tied up right now recording this conversation.”

Smirks all around from everyone but the Novaks.

“Now, I know what you’re thinking. But Dean, that’s not admissible in court. You can’t just bug an office and record important business matters. Of course not. However, I just brought in a sweet treat” he pointed helpfully to the pastries “with a cute bug" likewise to the tiny plush bee "so that we could save the memory of our romantic reunion after being apart so long. You know, like all those adorable videos you see of soldiers coming back home and surprising their kids. How was I to know you’d come barging in here confessing to all sorts of felonies? Anyway, the tape is not for court. It’s for Cas. And Charlie. I’m not an expert here, but I bet, in the right hands, that tape could do a number on your stock market value, yes?” 

“Yes, I’d say so,” Cas agreed.

And finally, Michael and Naomi seemed to grasp that the situation was out of their control.

“It seems that we underestimated how… attached you had become to your new home,” Naomi surrendered. “Since you seem to be so eager to return, why don’t you go ahead back. We’ll let you and your… friend get reacquainted, as you said. And maybe we can speak again after you’ve settled in."

Like a man who has been waiting for this very moment, Bobby stepped up now, facing Naomi squarely.

“We are Castiel’s family now. And before we go on about our lives, I want to make one thing very clear. You go anywhere near Cas or Dean again, and you’ll find out that where we come from, families take care of their own. There’s not one of us here who hesitated to jump into a car at a moment’s notice and drive up here to get him, and there’s not a one of us here who wouldn’t be willing to go to jail to protect them, if that’s what it took. You remember that.”

“Mr. Novak, Mrs. Novak. You are wanted in connection to several felonies in my jurisdiction. Be advised that if you are seen in the area you will be apprehended and held for questioning.”

They moved away from the door then, converging on the pastries. It had been a long morning all around. There was no sense letting them go to waste.

“You can go now,” Jody snarked over her shoulder. “We’ll show ourselves out when Cas is ready to go.”

They were biting into their various pastries (Cas digging into the taffy) when the phone rang. When Cas managed to control the chuckle trying to break free, he told them it was Legal. Their laughter drowned out whatever else he tried to say.


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick epilogue, just because I couldn't let go of this scene, in the end.

Once the pastries were gone and Cas had rifled through his desk for whatever he wanted to take with him, they headed out of the building, one big happy family. In the parking lot, they split up, Benny, Bobby, and Donna getting into the cruiser with Jody and heading out first. Ellen took a few minutes to hug Cas and tell him not to pull something like that again, and then dragged Sam into Charlie’s bug with her. Dean and Cas would follow after a quick stop at his apartment to pick up a few things.

If Charlie smirked a bit at that, well, she had a vivid imagination. Cas was not leaving without the ACDC tee for one. Plus there were a few more things he’d need. He wouldn’t be hiding this time. He should take the valuables out of his safe, clean out his fridge. He had no intention of coming back any time soon. There was no need to leave a mess.

Cas jumped into the Impala and kept his focus on directing Dean to his office while talking nonsense about what he did and didn’t want to take with him. In all honesty, a bit terrified of this talk Dean wanted to have, now that they were alone. He’d feel a lot better about having that talk once they were back home, after he’d put his things away with Dean’s, after they’d snuggled up in bed together and gone to sleep in each other’s arms a couple of times. So he filled the silence however he could, and then they were pulling up and Cas was leading the way to his door.

He set Dean to taking care of the kitchen and went to gather his valuables, the backpack and some of his clothes. The tee, of course, and the jeans. But he couldn’t quite decide what else to take. If he was going to help people like Benny and Ellen with their businesses, he’d probably need a suit, but the ones he owned seemed ridiculously over the top. He looked towards the suits hanging in his closet.

He heard a knock on the door and looked over his shoulder with a smile.

“All done?”

“There wasn’t much to do, really,” Dean answered.

“I’m just getting some clothes, then we can go.”

“Bring that suit.”

“What- what suit?” Cas hesitated.

“The one you were wearing in that picture, in your office, in front of your desk, with the view behind it. In that article about your return to Novak Aviation.”

“Ah,” Cas knew the suit he meant now. It was one of his best, perfectly tailored, and it suited his skin tone. With the right tie, it really made his eyes pop too. He nodded, the puzzlement in his expression asking the question for him.

“When I saw that picture,” Dean explained, “two things happened. One, I realized how very nicely you clean up. The way it fits, the way you looked, standing there like the world was your plaything… hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

That was definitely a good enough reason for Cas, but before he could say so, Dean moved closer and continued.

“Two, you looked so different and so put together and it felt so _wrong_ that I wanted to rip that suit off you and take you apart piece by piece until you were begging for it,” He took another step closer. “And then bend you over that desk until your hair was the train wreck I missed so much. Until you looked like _my_ Cas.”

Before Dean could take another step, he found his back pressed against the wall, and then they were pouring all the frustration and longing of the last few weeks into a hard kiss. Hands clinging desperately as if this might all be a dream, in the end. One kiss at a time, they let themselves believe it was real, and the kisses gentled, slowed, eased into tenderness.

Eventually, they were just holding each other.

“Let’s go home, Cas,” Dean finally rumbled.

Cas moved away, holding Dean’s hand as long as he could, and stepped into his closet. In a few seconds he came back again, dragging a suitcase and every damn suit he owned. He tossed the suits into the case, zipped up his bags and a slid into sneakers.

“Let’s go.”


End file.
